Sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric

ABSTRACT

A sewing procedure map is provided through markings upon or within a portion of fabric applied during textile or fabric production to aid in the processes of both automatic and manual sewing operations, wherein markings upon the fabric enable a machine or human user a means for quickly identifying the straight-of-grain, bias, and lay orientation of a fabric without measuring or marking devices, or the need to reference the selvedge. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric can be accomplished during production, or in a second operation following production, and can use means visible or invisible to the naked eye. The straight-of-grain markings, lengthwise and crosswise, form a grid work by which the intersection of such markings create the coordinates by which bias is established, subsequent markings such as repeat of pattern, yardage counters, pre measured sections, would be applied at various points of reference on the fabric. Markings will increase speed and accuracy during the layout of patterns, cutting, measuring, assembling and many other fabric related processes thus creating increasing efficiency and reducing flawed production items by decreasing grain orientation and other errors.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the textiles industry or fabrics and more particularly to a sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric, creating a grid work of markings to aid in the various processes of fabric assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The term “straight-of-grain” is referring to the weave of woven fabric where you have threads running lengthwise, or parallel to the selvedge, and threads running crosswise, or perpendicular to the selvedge woven together creating a portion of fabric. Lines drawn perfectly parallel or perpendicular to the selvedge are referred to as the “straight-of-grain”.

Since fabrics first saw use by humans, there existed a need for measuring, marking, and cutting fabric with sufficient accuracy for various applications. Beyond assuring the general dimensions and positioning, cutting fabric must also take into account the position and repeat of patterns, and the direction of the fabric grain. For certain fabrics the alignment of nap direction must be determined and marked at the time of fabric cutting if the finished item is to provide a naphthat matches on all pieces. These markings and measuring needs are common to most fabric uses including upholstery of furniture, the fabrication of garments, designing of custom draperies, linens, and the crafting of quilts. Since the needs for positioning and measuring are so universal, a number of solutions have arisen and are in use, most of which have origins decades ago.

Modern garment patterns are supplied with arrows indicating how the pattern should be oriented to the straight-of-grain, allowing it to lay either parallel or perpendicular to the selvedge. Depending on where it is placed on the pattern piece, you could also achieve a bias cut, again, these markings must be laboriously determined and made for each and every item that is to be cut.

For fabric pieces to be cut from a length of fabric and maintain their correct grain orientation, one must either orient for the selvedge and mark the straight of grain, or go through a difficult and laborious process of determining the straight-of-grain after the item is cut from the parent roll of fabric, thus eliminating the relationship to the selvedge and any fixed point of measurement for the straight-of-grain. Use of pins, and various measuring devices, helps even the modern seamstress maintain correct grain orientation of a portion of fabric.

In the modern uses of fabric items, it remains an issue, with a measurable percentage of sewn items arriving in the market with incorrect grain orientations, incorrect pattern orientations, incorrect nap orientation, and other visible problems associated with improper aligning of the grain, nap, pattern and repeat of pattern. These flaws are fairly apparent even to the untrained eye, and a trip to the local furniture store will generally yield examples of one or more of the above problems, usually on a piece of furniture or clothing discounted for the flaw.

High priced tailors, top quality producers of garments, and high end upholsterers solve these problems by hand measuring and marking every piece of fabric used to assure that all components of the fabric will align and match the finished product.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,971 Schafer et al, describes a tool optimized to help users striving for accuracy in measurement and orientation. Although the tool no doubt provides great utility, it still depends on a human agent to measure and mark each and every piece of fabric to be used, and it further requires the user to begin measurements and orientation from the selvedge. If the selvedge is not present, orientation is greatly inhibited using most any fabric currently available in the world.

Additionally, many items cut from a breadth of fabric are symmetrical and are often cut by folding the material. Using current methods of technology, pinned on patterns and markings are in danger of wrinkling and thereby shifting from the true marks, and precise folds are difficult to achieve.

Folding and cutting patterned material adds another element of difficulty in that the pattern pieces must all correspond (along with the straight-of-grain, nap and other desired alignments). It is quite easy for plaids or even floral prints to be upside down, misaligned or unbalanced when the final sewn item is produced. The current solution for this is a massive investment in time through tremendous care, and the application of pins and other hand measuring devices.

Very little has been done at the textile manufacturing end to simplify or improve the technology of interface between the textile manufacturer and the textile user. Some few technologies were created to help clarify various positioning, and orientation issues with the finished pieces once they are cut from the breadth of fabric at the garment manufacturing end, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,726 Linda et al that describes a method and apparatus for marking fabric piles, or stacked pieces of fabric after they are cut from the breadth of fabric.

In all prior art available, and in the methods used within the textile industry there is not a reference point for straight-of-grain, repeat of pattern, bias angles, or any other reference marking applied to the parent role or breadth of raw material.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a medium wherein the above noted problems and failures are overcome by introducing a method of mapping sewing procedures on a section of fabric during its manufacture.

Though certain prior art depicts methods for identifying various reference points on items cut from fabric, and several devices for marking individual pieces of fabric by referencing the selvedge, no prior art known to the applicants describes a method of determining the straight-of-grain or bias on a portion of fabric without referencing the selvedge. Further, no known prior art describes a sewing procedure map applied on a breadth of fabric during the process of manufacturing the actual fabric.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is comprised of a sewing procedure map enabling the manual or automatic determination of the straight-of-grain and other reference determinations on fabric or any sizeable portion of fabric wherein a run of fabric during production or after production is supplied with markings consistent and indicatory with the selvedge. These markings would enable machines to automatically detect the straight-of-grain, bias, repeat of pattern and other determinations while producing sewn goods, or enable tailors or other manual users of fabric the same advantages when working on portions of the fabric without referencing the selvedge. Thus when the user utilizes a portion of the fabric he or she can assure proper orientation of the fabric relative to the grain of the fabric even if the selvedge portion of the fabric was not referenced. The method of marking could incorporate lines or dashes of a dye material which may or may not be visible to the naked eye, or it could simply utilize a marking means that can be easily removed from the fabric after the garment or other sewn good is produced. It could also be achieved through the placement of “reference warp and woof threads” that could be invisible to the naked eye, or later removed from the finished good, or woven of other uniquely detectable fibers.

In another embodiment, fabric could be marked on the “inside” surface with visible marks that would not be seen when the fabric is sewn into a finished product.

The reference marks of the invention indicating the straight of grain are inclusive of both lengthwise and crosswise lines, creating a grid work which allows for the subsequent markings such as the bias coordinates (where the lengthwise and crosswise lines intersect). Additional markings such as directional indicia, pattern repeat, pre measured lengthwise sections (center, ¼, ⅓), and possible yardage measurements are also applicable.

One embodiment of this invention would use visible reference marks dyed into the fabric in an easily washable dye material, which again would enable machine and manual use through optical means, or through simple observation by user. Again, these visible marks would be introduced during initial manufacturing of the product through the use of an automated dye and marking system.

In the case of any dyeing operation, it could be performed after production in a second operation if necessary. In the chief embodiment, the end result will be markings that identify the straight-of-grain at many points across the breadth and throughout the length of a fabric portion, and could further utilize other markings at various other angles as needed.

In any embodiment, the markings of the sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric, could also include directional marks indicating an up/down orientation to indicate the lay or nap and direction of pattern.

The present embodiments, described in the foregoing, satisfies the need within the art by providing a sewing procedure map in or on a portion of fabric which allows a user to utilize fabric in the correct orientation even when the selvedge is not attached or visible, in a manual or mechanized process where an immediate reference for grain direction is valuable.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the invention are listed below.

-   (a) It is one object of this invention to reduce the time involved     in determining the straight-of-grain at virtually any point across     the breadth of fabric. -   (b) It is another object of this invention to reduce waste in the     production of garments, draperies, linens, upholstery, quilts, and     other sewn goods by providing immediate reference for the     straight-of-grain and other orientation marks. -   (c) It is another object of this invention to produce a higher     quality finished product through precision grain orientation. -   (d) It is another object of this invention to make much of the hand     measuring, and marking unnecessary, by providing the pre measured     markings already on the fabric, saving time and narrowing the margin     of human error. -   (e) It is another object of this invention to provide a means for     accurate bias orientation consistently available to assure the     proper drape by allowing the adjustment of the degree of bias     desired. -   (f) It is another object of this invention to allow for the     straight-of-grain and all subsequent markings to be either manually     or automatically detected depending on the application for the     fabric. -   (g) It is another object of this invention through the grid work of     lengthwise and crosswise straight-of-grain lines to provide an     accurate cutting line saving time at the retail level, and helping     customers visually estimate yardage. -   (h) It is another object of this invention to increase the     efficiently of fabric uses by making more of the fabric available     even if the selvedge is not accessible. -   (i) It is another object of this invention to allow the lay or nap     orientation to also be determined in the manual or automatic use of     fabric via directional markings to benefit those working with fabric     such as velour or velvet and the like which have a sensitive nap     orientation, or those fabrics with an unidirectional pattern design. -   (j) Yet another object of this invention is to allow the grid work     to be scaled up or down to aid in the processes of quilting, by     either enlarging or narrowing the distance between the lengthwise     and crosswise straight-of-grain markings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are the same portion of fabric, separated for distinction of markings and viewing ease.

FIG. 1 shows a bolt of fabric illustrating the core of this invention consisting of parallel and perpendicular markings, in relation to the selvedge, identifying the lengthwise and crosswise straight-of-grain, forming a grid work and creating coordinates for the true bias where the markings intersect. Also showing directional indicia, identifying lay of nap and pattern direction.

FIG. 2 shows a bolt of fabric identifying the lengthwise pattern repeat and crosswise pattern repeat, the pre measured widths (center, ¼, ⅓), also the pre-measured lengths (yardage counters) along the selvedge.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERALS FIG. 1

-   -   (10) Bolt of fabric     -   (11) Lengthwise straight-of-grain     -   (12) Crosswise straight-of-grain     -   (13) Bias coordinates     -   (14) Directional indicia     -   (15) Selvedge

FIG. 2

-   -   (10) Bolt of fabric     -   (16) Lengthwise pattern repeat     -   (17) Crosswise pattern repeat     -   (18) Pre measured widths (center, ¼, ⅓)     -   (19) Selvedge with pre-measured lengths (yardage) counters

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1&2

Now turning to FIG. 1 of the drawing, it will be observed that it depicts a detailed drawing of one typical embodiment of a sewing procedure map on a portion of fabric (10) in the form of lengthwise marks parallel to the selvedge running the entire length of the fabric equally spaced across the breadth of fabric (11), crosswise marks perpendicular to the selvedge running the entire width of fabric equally spaced throughout the fabric (12), creating a grid work, of intersection coordinates (13), that when connected, identify the true bias. Directional indicia in the form of arrows (14) or other markings, randomly spaced, identify the nap or pattern direction.

Now turning to FIG. 2 of the drawing, it will be observed that it continues to depict a detailed drawing of one typical embodiment of a sewing procedure map on a portion of fabric detailing the lengthwise pattern repeat, in the form of markings uniquely spaced as dictated by distance of repeat (16), the crosswise pattern repeat, in the form of markings also uniquely spaced as dictated by the distance of repeat (17), a method for determining pre-measured widths of fabric (center, ¼, ⅓) in the form of markings such as dashes, dots or the like, parallel to the selvedge (18) running the entire length of fabric, a method for identifying increments of yardage (pre-measured lengths), in the form of small marks along the selvedge with or without sequential numbers (19).

Operation of Invention

The manner of using a sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric is as follows in this preferred embodiment: Lines parallel to the selvedge running the entire length of the fabric identify the “lengthwise” straight-of-grain (11), marks perpendicular to the selvedge running across the width of the fabric identify the “crosswise” straight-of-grain (12) equal spacing of both crosswise and lengthwise straight-of-grain marks form a grid work creating intersecting coordinates identifying the bias when connected together in a diagonal line across the fabric in either direction (13) additional markings include directional indicia indicating lay, nap or pattern direction (14) pre measured fabric widths (center, ¼, ⅓) (18), yardage counters along the selvedge (pre-measured lengths) (19), using the appropriate marking means, such as a washable powder dye, reactive dye, uniquely detectable fibers woven into the fabric, or any other visible or invisible media deemed appropriate by the user, either printed on or woven in through warp and woof threads. Ideally, the markings will be applied during the original production of the fabric for efficiency. Other options include applying markings to the fabric in a second operation after the initial production of the fabric.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE OF INVENTION

In conclusion, this invention is a new idea for a solution to an old problem. It provides a new and highly effective means for increasing the efficiency of many sewing related operations. While providing a means for users to not only identify the straight-of-grain easily and efficiently on a portion of fabric without ever referencing the selvedge, it offers many other pertinent measurements and referencing points without the use of other measuring tools, thus saving time and money, and at the same time, producing a higher quality sewn product.

This invention could potentially revolutionize the way fabric is laid out, measured, cut and assembled. It can be applied to all aspects of the textile industry from quilting, designing, decorating and upholstering. It's difficult to think of a single fabric application that this invention will not, in some way, have a positive effect on.

While the above description contains certain specifics, they should not be construed as limitations upon the described invention, but merely as providing illustration of certain currently preferred embodiments.

Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

Hopefully, this invention will give the domestic textile industry a competitive edge over emerging competitors. 

1. A sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric comprising: reference markings applied across the length and breadth of fabric,
 2. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 1 wherein said markings are woven into said portion of fabric,
 3. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 1 wherein said markings are comprised of uniquely detectable fibers,
 4. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 1 wherein said markings are comprised of dye material
 5. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 1 wherein said markings are comprised of a washable material,
 6. A sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric including one or more members selected from a group consisting of: (a) markings indicating the straight-of-grain on a portion of fabric; (b) markings identifying lay orientation on a portion of fabric; (c) markings specifying pre-measured widths on a portion of fabric; (d) markings indicating the repeat of pattern on a portion of fabric; (e) markings specifying pre-measured lengths on a portion of fabric;
 7. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 6 wherein said markings are woven into said portion of fabric,
 8. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 6 wherein said markings are comprised of uniquely detectable fibers,
 9. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 6 wherein said map is comprised of uniquely detectable markings,
 10. A sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric including one or more members selected from a group consisting of: (a) fibers woven into a portion of fabric (b) markings applied to a portion of fabric
 11. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 10 wherein said map identifies the straight-of-grain of said fabric,
 12. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 10 wherein said map identifies directional orientation on said fabric,
 13. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 10 wherein said map identifies the pattern repeat on said fabric,
 14. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 10 wherein said map identifies pre-measured lengths on said fabric,
 15. The sewing procedure map applied to a portion of fabric of claim 10 wherein said wherein said map identifies pre-measured widths on said fabric. 